Reality Check with Élena

Episode 6 — Todd Morley: How Impact Investing Can Formalize the Informal World

In Washington DC this time, Élena sits with legendary investor and Guggenheim Partners co-founder Todd Morley to explore one of the most overlooked forces shaping the global economy: informality. With nearly 70% of the world’s workforce operating outside formal systems, Todd explains why this is not just a humanitarian challenge but the largest untapped economic opportunity on the planet, breaking down how informal markets suppress global GDP, destabilize democracies, and trap billions in poverty. He reveals how data-driven, impact-focused investment models can formalize work, unlock capital, and create measurable, scalable, and profitable growth, offering a bold blueprint for building an economy that works for everyone. -Time Stamps- 0:00 – Why Informality Is the World’s Biggest Untapped Economic Opportunity 1:26 – How Todd Discovered the Power of Property Rights and Informality 3:10 – Why Governments Can Fix Poverty Faster Than They Think 4:50 – The Guggenheim Bilbao Effect & Economic Transformation 6:29 – From $12 Shacks to Thriving Cities in Peru 8:36 – Why Some Governments Don’t Want People to Escape Poverty 9:26 – How Property Rights Built the American Middle Class 11:18 – Why Fintech and Microloans Aren’t Enough 11:44 – Private Capital, Public Power & Real Economic Growth 13:27 – How the Reality Check Analysis (RCA) Works 15:16 – The “Bilbao Effect” for Entire Countries 16:36 – The $12 Home That Became Worth $500,000 18:09 – Why ESG Is Failing and What Actually Creates Impact 19:25 – How Property Rights Reduced Child Labor by 27% 20:37 – Why Ignoring Informality Threatens the Global Middle Class 21:40 – Final Thoughts & Call to Action Learn more, donate, and join our movement at t4action.org

Episode 5 – The Silent Journey: young African Refugees walking for the search of something better?

Welcome to the new wave of change: https://linktr.ee/t4action - subscribe- share - donateToday I am broadcasting this episode from Lima, Peru. In this episode I have the privilege to talk with “The Doer” Pablo Bustamante. The man who innovated finance and helped move Peru’s informal sector into the middle class. In this video podcast, recorded in the spirit of untold stories that drive change, Pablo shares how Peru emerged from a collapsed state and 25 years of economic turmoil to build one of the most dynamic middle classes in Latin America. He recounts how a generation of doers, working both inside and outside institutions, sparked a quiet revolution. From designing the return of consumer credit to helping unlock property rights for hundreds of thousands of informal families, Pablo helped reshape how finance worked for the people. We talk about informality not as a problem, but as a parallel economy with massive potential. He describes the passion, the vision, and persistence it took to innovate – in order to bring into the formal fold this enormous informal potential. This is the story of how the market didn't just take care of it: people became the market. Time Stamps: 00:00 – Life in Fear and Constant Movement 00:35 – Introduction to the Episode & Refugee Context 00:59 – Seeking Asylum: Refugees Relocated to a Park 02:31 – Experiences of Racism and Social Exclusion 03:05 – A 22-Year-Old’s Story: From Ethiopia Through Libya & Morocco 05:06 – Surviving the Day: Markets, Money, and Missing Documents 06:39 – “No Future Here”: Hunger, Danger & Hopelessness 08:30 – Cross-Continent Journeys: Sudan, Chad, Libya & the Sahara 10:18 – Overwhelmed Systems: Why Host Countries Struggle 11:24 – War, Poverty & The Roots of Forced Migration 12:05 – Violence on the Road: Mafia, Arrest & Prison 13:37 – Identity Lost: Stolen Documents and No Legal Status 15:26 – Children Displaced Since 2015: Years Without Home or School 17:03 – Lost Trust, Lost Dreams & Living Day-to-Day 18:01 – Closing Message & Call to Support Produced by Thought4Action. Edited by Sara Correa.

Episode 4 – The Man Behind the Market: Pablo Bustamante and Peru’s Quiet Economic Revolution

Welcome to the new wave of change: https://linktr.ee/t4action - subscribe- share - donateToday I am broadcasting this episode from Lima, Peru. In this episode I have the privilege to talk with “The Doer” Pablo Bustamante. The man who innovated finance and helped move Peru’s informal sector into the middle class. In this video podcast, recorded in the spirit of untold stories that drive change, Pablo shares how Peru emerged from a collapsed state and 25 years of economic turmoil to build one of the most dynamic middle classes in Latin America. He recounts how a generation of doers, working both inside and outside institutions, sparked a quiet revolution. From designing the return of consumer credit to helping unlock property rights for hundreds of thousands of informal families, Pablo helped reshape how finance worked for the people. We talk about informality not as a problem, but as a parallel economy with massive potential. He describes the passion, the vision, and persistence it took to innovate – in order to bring into the formal fold this enormous informal potential. This is the story of how the market didn't just take care of it: people became the market. Time Stamps: 3:34 – Peru’s 1968 Autarchy: 25 Years of Economic Meltdown and Hyperinflation 6:15 – Vargas Llosa’s Heroic Vision: Pablo Joins the Fight to Transform Peru 6:38 – A New Beginning: The 1993 Constitution and Economic Reintegration 7:33 – Reimagining Credit: Pablo Designs Consumer Lending for All 9:40 – Rebuilding Trust: Legal Reform as the Foundation for Investment 11:26 – Property Rights Matter: Understanding and Tackling Informality 19:00 – Financial Inclusion: Innovating for the Informal Sector 20:10 – The Long Game: 7 Years to Convince the World Bank 24:00 – Peru Today: A Country of Opportunity

Episode 3 – The Hidden Key to Development and Progress is Property Rights: Charles Calomiris

Today, I sit with globally influential economist Charles Calomiris at the foothills of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. We discuss the foundations of economic development. In this video podcast, Calomiris draws on decades of research and policy advise on economic equilibria, and international finance to deliver a compelling reality check on why secure property rights are the bedrock of development! He explains how informality traps millions in poverty, why organizations often fail to deliver on paper promises, and how trust, leadership, and long-term vision can break entrenched cycles of corruption. We discuss how the Reality Check Analysis (RCA) framework, a practical tool for identifying the real levers of meaningful and lasting reform. Welcome to the new wave of change: https://linktr.ee/t4action Time Stamps: 1:10 Who is Charles Calomiris. 1:35 Has capitalism failed? 4:59 We used to have poverty now we have growing informality 70% and growing. Why? Why are economists confused? Why are Property Rights important? 6:47 The mission of the Development Organizations IMF and World Bank. 8:25 They have become the slush fund of the G7 finance ministers. 11:01 Brazil - The transformation 13:13 How should leaders operate in order to achieve irreversible change. 15:00 Peru – The growth of its middle class. 16:50 Democracy today is often clientelist. What is a corrupt equilibrium and how Property Rights help change it. 18:58 Greece – look around at what works and learn from it. 21:53 Reality Check Analysis RCA – keeps decision makers sober to create Trust.

Episode 2 - What is Informality why it Persists: Francis Fukuyama on Broken Systems and Bold Fixes

This time straight from Mexico, I meet with renowned political scientist and author Francis Fukuyama. In his characteristically eloquent and succinct style he offers a sharp reality check on what is informality and why it continues to persist around the world. He unpacks how weak institutions, lack of trust, and structural barriers shape informal systems, and recognises the concept of Reality Check Analysis (RCA) as a pathway toward lasting institutional change. (10-minute video podcast) Learn more about Elena Panaritis and Thought4Action: https://linktr.ee/t4actionDonate to put an end to informality